Asian men targeted in stop and search

The use of counter-terrorism stop and search powers has increased sevenfold since the July 7 attacks on Britain, with Asian people bearing the brunt of the increase, the Guardian has learned.

People of Asian appearance were five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, according to the latest figures compiled by British Transport police. None of the stops have resulted in a terrorism charge, the force said.

The statistics were the first from any force on the terrorism frontline and came amid rows about who police should target and how often they should use powers allowing officers to search people without having reasonable grounds to suspect them.

Unpublished figures from July 7 to August 10 showed that the transport police carried out 6,747 stops under anti-terrorism laws, with the majority in London.

The force recorded 2,390 stops of Asian people, 35% of the total, and 2,168 of white people, who were 32% of the total. In London Asian people comprise 12% of the population, while white people are 63%.

In June the force stopped 408 people nationwide, with less of a focus on Asian people than a month later. Of that month's stops, 51% were white, 8.6% were African-Caribbean, and 16.2% were Asian.

The stops and searches in July led to 25 arrests for mainly drugs and weapons offences.

After the London attacks Ian Johnston, the transport police's chief constable, caused controversy when he appeared to back racial profiling in a newspaper interview.

Mr Johnson said: "Intelligence-led stop and searches have got to be the way ... We should not waste time searching old white ladies. It is going to be disproportionate. It is going to be young men, not exclusively, but it may be disproportionate when it comes to ethnic groups."

But Hazel Blears, a Home Office minister, said stop and search guidelines "will not discriminate against Muslims".

Stop and search powers have long been criticised for causing more damage to trust in the police, compared with their crime-fighting benefits.

Marian Fitzgerald, a criminologist at the University of Kent, said: "Your chances of being an innocent member of the Asian community going about your lawful business and being stopped and searched by the police are infinitely higher than a white person.

"The police feel they need to be seen doing something to reassure the public, with little regard for the long-term consequences of what they do. It's questionable that this could be an effective tool in tackling a terrorist suspect."

The July 7 attacks were carried out by Britons of Pakistani descent while the failed July 21 attacks have led to people of African origin being charged.

Azad Ali, chairman of the Muslim Safety Forum, said: "This does not look like intelligence-led stop and search. This is disproportionate on an unacceptable scale." He said police should record whether those stopped were Muslim or not.

Police usually need reasonable grounds to suspect a person before they can stop and search them.

But the powers used by the transport police are those under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Searches can be carried out in areas senior officers have designated as being at risk of terrorist attack. That assessment has to be agreed by the home secretary.

The act says the powers can be used to search for articles connected with terrorism but an officer does not need grounds to suspect the person is carrying such an article.

After the July 7 attacks areas surrounding the transport infrastructure and big urban areas were classed as areas officers could search without reasonable cause.

The transport police's guidelines about stop and search say: "BTP has not changed its policy on stop and search under terrorism legislation.

"This has always been predominantly intelligence-led, which means that it will target particular profiles of people, in particular places, depending on the information available at the time. This is a sensible use of resources.

"There is also a random element to stop and search -this is to make the environment unpredictable and therefore more risky for a potential terrorist."